Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away, but I do own Sora Kasama/Kizuka, Keiko Dobashi, Ryo Tanaka, Ms. Kiyotaka, the Shadow Demons, and the plot. Do not use them without my permission. This disclaimer applies to all the chapters I write for this story.
Yay! (Finally) Here is Chapter 16!
.: .The Lost Princess.: .
CHAPTER SIXTEEN—'BLUE, GREEN, AND VIOLET'
by: Cecile Li
Recap.
Then out of the shadows came an arrow, traveling to the two objects.
Those weren't objects, Haku realized. It was Chihiro!
"RYOOOOOOO!" Keiko screamed as she watched him take the arrow that was meant for her. The arc of Ryo's jump stopped as the arrow caught him. Time seemed to stop as the arrow sliced neatly into his waiting chest. He made a soft 'Oh!' as the arrow exploded into him. Blood splattered on Keiko's porcelain face from Ryo's wound. He fell slowly, so slowly, into Keiko. She was crying, crying from those beautiful blue eyes of hers.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't supposed to be like this." She cried into Ryo's dark hair. "We were supposed to get married. We were supposed to marry and live in a country cottage. Ryo. Ryo!"
A shadow came up to Keiko, a glittering knife in its hand. He pulled Ryo from a screaming Keiko. Ryo was passed into the cluster of shadows and Chihiro saw no more. Shadows surrounded Keiko and her, holding rope. The next thing she knew, she was tied up with Keiko and Sora.
Haku hovered over the dark spot in the forest, careful to hide behind some clouds. So many shadows…He had thought they were all gone after their leader was destroyed!
What had happened? What was he supposed to do? Why was Sora there too? She must have been trying to help Chihiro. To save them, he had to wait until the shadows weren't watching. He would wait till dark and then save Chihiro.
Keiko had been crying for an hour. As patient as Chihiro was, she couldn't stand it anymore. Chihiro had been trying to find a way to escape from this situation, but couldn't find anything. Sora was slumped over in her binds, still unconscious. Is this the end? Chihiro wondered. Things looked bleak and Chihiro knew she needed a miracle.
A sudden movement next to her caught her eye. Sora was waking up.
Her head hurt so much. Where was she? She was helping the shadows catch Kanna…and then what happened? A knife….something hit her and she fell unconscious. Those demons! She raged in her head, you can never trust a shadow demon. She peeked at the silent girl next to her. So Kanna was tied up too. Served her right.
Sora massaged her head lightly. The audacity of those demons…tying her up next to Kanna, like a prisoner. She turned to Chihiro.
"Well, well, well." She smiled widely, her red lips stretching over her white teeth. "What do we have here?" Chihiro ignored her. "Looks like you bit off more than you could chew. Good choice in bringing that good for nothing girl over there. Using her for sacrifice, aren't you?" Chihiro was listening now, she noted and smiled wider. She yawned and stretched, settling into a more comfortable position. All of a sudden, she moved closer to Chihiro and whispered into her ear, "Awfully dense, aren't you?"
Be calm, Chihiro reminded herself. Don't give Sora the satisfaction that she's gotten to you.
"Sora, please. I have nothing to say to you so please do not say anything to me." Chihiro said as politely as she could, before turning away from the beautiful woman.
Something in Sora snapped. Her fingers shook in her binds and her face tightened. "DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP!" She screamed into Chihiro's shocked face. She panted heavily before regaining what little control she had left. "Don't give me that crap." She spat out, her beautiful blue eyes starting to tinge red. "SHUT UP!" She screamed at the now silent Keiko, "Stupid friend! Crying over her prince. Well, he's dead now, isn't he!" She laughed loudly, her dark hair spilling everywhere. "But your prince isn't dead…he's not dead. Don't you think that that's unfair? But noooo, of course not, Kanna is perfect, she has a perfect life, she has a perfect prince that never dies!" She smiled hatefully at Chihiro. "I hate you," She whispered to Chihiro, her glossy hair framing her beautiful face, "I hate you and your stupid, stupid friend. I HATE YOU! Got that?" She leaned in closer to Chihiro. "I hate you so much I could kill you with my bare hands."
Sora was crazy, Chihiro realized, crazy as in should-be-confined-in-a-asylum crazy. She edged away from Sora, closer to Keiko. Only, as she turned, Keiko wasn't there anymore.
Keiko felt so guilty about leaving Chihiro there. When Ryo had signaled her, she had thought he was going to get both of them out, but in the end, only she did. He had set the shadows on working something out and quickly made her leave the camp. She had thought he died! But she was so glad he didn't…if he did, she had no idea how she would go on.
Keiko was forced to leave Chihiro with that crazy bitch, but she would save Chihiro for sure.
Finally, it looked like the shadows weren't paying attention to the captives. Haku changed back to his human form and armed with a knife, he crept up behind Sora and Chihiro. He wasn't sure where the third girl went, but he would continue with the plan anyway.
"Chihiro!" He whispered to the two girls. Sora turned right away, but Chihiro didn't. Sora smiled at him and he cut her bonds first.
"Chihiro is unconscious." She whispered softly to him, her blue eyes hiding tears. "The shadow demons were so cruel to her."
Chihiro was slumped in a kneeling position. The shadows were going to notice any moment. They had to be fast. Haku carried Chihiro in his arms and quickly signaled Sora to hurry.
Sora followed Haku's lead to a small pond in the forest. She kept her face passive and gentle. Everyone had thought she lost all her power when she gave up her wings, but she still had a drop of magic left. It wasn't much, but it would be enough. She knew what she would do.
Haku lay Chihiro on the moss next to the big oak tree. It was strange that she was unconscious. He could've sworn she was talking with Sora. That must have been the other girl that was missing now.
He jerked when a cool hand touched his hand. He turned around and Sora was smiling lightly at him. Her eyes really were mesmerizing. Her eyes seemed to be changing colors, from blue to green to violet to blue to green to violet to blue to green to violet…
Haku shook his head. It was impossible. He peered at Sora's eyes again. They were simply blue. Haku sighed in relief. It must have been a trick of the light.
But wait…those pretty eyes were green, no, violet, no, they were blue…
"Haku," Sora said, still smiling the same smile, "Chihiro has been deceiving you this whole time. She tried to kill me, Haku." Sora's words sounded so far away. Haku couldn't focus on her words and found himself nodding under her spell. "Princess Kanna is your beloved fiancée. You love her more than anything in the world. I am the real princess, Haku."
Sora allowed herself a real smile this time, showing her teeth all the way to the pink gums. "I am Princess Kanna, Haku." She looked expectantly at the dazed Haku. "Who am I, Haku?"
He nodded, as if stuck in a fog. "You are Princess Kanna, my most beloved person in the world."
Sora fluttered her long eyelashes at him. "Who is Chihiro?"
Haku's eyes struggled to look at her. "I love her?"
Sora almost snapped but smiled again, leaning closer into Haku's face, never losing contact with his slowly numbing hand. "No, Haku. Look at my eyes. Aren't they pretty?" He nodded, his eyes unfocused. "You hate Chihiro because she tried to kill your beloved Princess, me. You hate her."
Haku shook his head, confused. "No, I don't hate Chihiro. I could never hate Chihiro."
Sora began trembling with anger. "NOOO!" She screamed in his face, gripping his face in her cold hands. "Look in my eyes, Haku. You love me, you hate Chihiro. You hate Chihiro. Say it!" He nodded again. "Say it." She said in a low and dangerous voice.
"I love you. I hate Chihiro." He repeated passively.
Sora relaxed her hands around his face. She caressed his cheek lightly. "Good." She praised, smiling at him. "Now push Chihiro into the pond."
A/N: Oooo. The plot thickens.
Sorry it took so long. Hope you all had a great time reading this.
Instead of writing replies to reviews here, I'll always reply to the reviews you send in. TT Thank you to every reader and reviewer for reading this and reviewing. It really makes my day. Thank you so much!
-C.L.